The annual Encounters festival kicks off again at The Bioscope cinema in Maboneng and the Cinema Nouveau in Rosebank Mall, presenting a broad selection of some of the best contemporary&nbsp;international&nbsp;documentary films covering a wide range of topics from rave culture in Iran and the aftermath of ebola in West Africa to the battle to sustain traditions in San communities of the Northern Cape.&nbsp;If you enjoy watching documentaries films then you won&#39;t find a better selection of films to enjoy. Find the full festival schedule <a href="http://www.encounters.co.za/documentaries/">online here</a>.<br /> <br /> <em><strong>Highlights of this year&#39;s festival include:&nbsp;</strong></em><br /> <br /> <strong>June 3, 19:00</strong>&nbsp;<strong>at&nbsp;The&nbsp;Bioscope</strong><br /> <strong><em>The Pearl of Africa </em></strong><br /> A tender film telling the story of Cleo, a transgender&nbsp;Ugandan forced to flee the country&nbsp;with her husband due to the threats of violence posed by Uganda&#39;s persecution of LGBTI individuals.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>June 3, 7 and 12 at Cinema Nouveau, Rosebank Mall</strong><br /> <em><strong>Where to Invade Next</strong></em><br /> Michael&nbsp;Moore&rsquo;s first film in seven years marks a return to his best for this&nbsp;provocative and entertaining activist.&nbsp;Armed with a giant American flag, Moore sets off across Europe collecting the best socially progressive ideas he can find. The tongue-in-cheek intention is of course to return with these stolen discoveries to the USA, appropriating them as American ideals.<br /> <br /> <strong>June 4, 18:00&nbsp;at&nbsp;The&nbsp;Bioscope<br /> <em>Raving Iran </em></strong><br /> Secret desert dance parties and underground music in Tehran. This film follows&nbsp;Anoosh and Arash, a pair of party organisers and DJs leading the underground rave scene in Iran, despite the threat of prison and even death.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>June 4, 20:00,</strong>&nbsp;<strong>at&nbsp;The&nbsp;Bioscope</strong>&nbsp;<br /> <strong><em>The Revolution Won&#39;t be Televised&nbsp;</em></strong><br /> In 2011 Y&rsquo;en a Marre a group of Senagelese rappers and journalists decided to take a stand against apathy and corruption. Armed with microphones and backing tracks, and undeterred by harassment and arrest,&nbsp;they win the hearts and minds of the Senegalese youth.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <strong>June 5, 20:00 at&nbsp;Cinema Nouveau,&nbsp;Rosebank&nbsp;Mall<br /> <em>Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures</em></strong><br /> This&nbsp;brand&nbsp;new HBO documentary traces the life and work of the controversial artist&nbsp;Robert Mapplethorpe, whose exquisite portraits, still-life works and explicit images of the underground gay scene in New York defined art photography in the 1980s.<br /> <br /> <strong>June 5, 18:00&nbsp;at&nbsp;The&nbsp;Bioscope&nbsp;<br /> <em>Affliction&nbsp;</em></strong><br /> The devastating Ebola outbreak of 2013 which swept through West Africa has left a lasting impact on the region and its people. Dealing with the epidemic was one aspect of saving lives, garnering international support and fighting&nbsp;apathy and stigmatisation another. A harrowing indictment on the disparity of health care across the world and a tribute to those who fight it.<br /> <br /> <strong>June 5, 20:00&nbsp;at&nbsp;The&nbsp;Bioscope<br /> <em>Action Kommandant</em></strong><br /> Ashley Kriel, the &ldquo;Che Guevara of Bonteheuwel&rdquo; was murdered by the Apartheid police in 1987. He was only 20 years old. The activist and MK soldier was an iconic leader of Cape Town&rsquo;s anti-apartheid youth movement, drawing many into the struggle through his tireless organising, powerful speeches and magnetic personality. Cloete tells his story through intimate testimonies from family, comrades, mentors and friends alongside haunting audio recordings of the hero himself.<br /> <br /> <strong>June 6, 20:45</strong>&nbsp;<strong>at&nbsp;The&nbsp;Bioscope<br /> <em>​I Shot Bi&nbsp;Kidude&nbsp;</em></strong><br /> Or the curious kidnap of the world&#39;s oldest singer. In 2012, Tanzanian singer, Bi Kidude &ndash; the fast-talking, chain-smoking, rebel-rocker&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;was kidnapped at a reported age of 102. In this extraordinary film, filmmaker and fan Andy Jones heads to Zanzibar in search of his musical idol and turns&nbsp;accidental detective.<br /> <br /> <strong>June 7, 20:30&nbsp;at&nbsp;The&nbsp;Bioscope<br /> <em>Lost Tongue</em></strong>&nbsp;<br /> A San community in the Northern Cape fear the death of their culture, and the disappearance of their language. For this small group that is determined to keep the Nu/u language alive, they must struggle against the apathy of their community and government bureaucracy.<br /> <br /> <strong>June 8, 20:45&nbsp;at&nbsp;The&nbsp;</strong><strong>Bioscope<br /> <em>​Nasser</em></strong><em>&nbsp;</em><br /> Frank interviews with members of the revolutionary&nbsp;Free Soldiers, the Muslim Brotherhood and other political organisations reveal Egypt&rsquo;s troubled history since the overthrow of the&nbsp;monarchy in 1952. Following the reign of Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein,&nbsp;dense historical information spliced with archival footage provide a captivating exploration of the country that chose revolution above democracy.<br /> <br /> <strong>June 10, 19:00 at&nbsp;The&nbsp;</strong><strong>Bioscope<br /> <em>​A Syrian Love Story&nbsp;</em></strong><br /> An intimate family portrait about one family&#39;s struggle to overcome the personal costs of political persecution and the struggle for democracy. Following his wife Raghda&rsquo;s release from a Syrian prison Amer tries to build a new life with her and their children. Filmmaker and friend Sean McAllister watches as their relationship disintegrates over 5 years amid the stresses of war, PTSD, guilt and exile.<br /> <br /> <strong>June 10 and 12 at&nbsp;Cinema Nouveau,&nbsp;Rosebank&nbsp;Mall<br /> <em>The Shadow World&nbsp;</em></strong><br /> Based on&nbsp;the 2011 book by Andrew Feinstein,<em> The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade</em>. No one is spared in this damning expose of the global arms industry - a shadowy world of corruption, slush funds, drones, illicit bed partners, and a whole lot of lies and greed. Andrew Feinsten will host a Q&amp;A at the cinema on Sun June 12 at 17:30 in conjunction with the festival.<br /> <br /> <strong>June 11, 20:00 at&nbsp;The&nbsp;Bioscope</strong><br /> <em><strong>Cameraperson&nbsp;</strong></em><br /> A favourite at this year&#39;s Sundance festival, this documentary film is a personal memoir built out of images and moments from other peoples&rsquo; lives. After&nbsp;a failed attempt to make a film set in Afghanistan,&nbsp;award-winning documentary cinematographer&nbsp;Kirsten Johnson pieces together footage from her vast archive of work from&nbsp;various assignments in places like&nbsp;Bosnia, Cuba, Liberia, Nigeria and Uganda.